Yea, see that is the problem, the problem is the user not knowing how to upgrade the kernels nor use the package manager properly. By the sounds of it you have a mix match kernel/package system. Not to sound mean or anything, but when a user is going to touch the kernel, they should know what they are doing. We had to remove the automatic updating of kernels as people were fubaring their systems and going on riots. Now it takes user intervention to do it, so a user should know about the kernel before touching it.

Always remember your kernel version has to match your modules/drivers, otherwise stuff don't work. All a learning process I guess. I just wish people would check documentation more.